Cam Fowler

Cam Fowler has been suffering from the dreaded "sophomore slump" since the beginning of the season.

He's only 19, so it's hard to pass much judgement on him.

But his two assists are a stark contrast to last season's 10 goals and 40 assists.

It shouldn't be too hard to improve on last year's minus-25 rating, but if Fowler doesn't begin to put up more offensive numbers, he may find his playing time reduced in favor of teammates like Lubomir Visnovsky, Francois Beauchemin and Toni Lydman.

Tyler Meyers

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Tyler Myers took the league by storm in 2009-2010, winning the Calder Trophy over the leading rookie scorer that year, Matt Duchene.

His solid sophomore campaign convinced the Sabres to sign him to a seven-year contract extension this past summer, and it may be the pressure of that contract has hindered Meyers' play at the beginning of this season.

Meyers' three assists put him on pace for only 24 points, the lowest output of his career.

While the 21-year-old will no doubt pick it up over the course of the season, continued mediocre play would run the risk of offseason addition Christian Erhoff supplanting him as Buffalo's top defenseman.

Steve Downie

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Steve Downie often finds his name behind the likes of Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis and Steven Stamkos in the Tampa Bay game coverage, but he has consistently put up decent numbers over his two-and-a-half seasons with the Lightning.

Last season, Downie scored 10 goals and added 22 assists, down from his 46-point effort the season before, but enough to keep him relevant on Tampa Bay's roster.

He only has one goal and a matching assist so far this year, and sits at a minus-six after posting positive seasons since moving south from Philadelphia.

Downie's age, 24, makes him a prime candidate for a trade if he's not producing this year, but the Lightning would no doubt like to keep him since Lecavalier and St. Louis aren't getting any younger.

Hopefully the Ontario native can step it up and give the Lightning a viable secondary scoring option if either of the big three go down with injury.

Drew Doughty

Drew Doughty enjoyed a successful foray into the NHL after he was drafted in 2008, just behind Steven Stamkos.

He has developed into one of the top young defensemen in the league, possessing the perfect blend of grit and skill.

But when he held out from signing a contract at the start of the season, he placed a big target on his head for the fans and media alike to scrutinize his play this year.

He eventually signed an eight-year deal with Los Angeles, but after all the hype, he has played in only six games, contributed two assists and has a minus-two rating.

Everyone knows Doughty will need some time to get back into the swing of things after missing much of the preseason, but Kings fans hope that time is sooner rather than later.

Don't expect to see Doughty's name in any trade rumors, as the Kings have gone all in with him and his contract. But after dropping games against the Oilers and Avalanche over the weekend, Los Angeles will no doubt need their top blueliner to step it up to help turn things around.

Derek Roy

Derek Roy is a hometown guy in Buffalo, being drafted by the Sabres in 2001.

He has consistently put up great numbers for the team, while keeping his name under the radar for the most part.

But when Roy doesn't show up for games, it shows.

Buffalo sits at a respectable 6-4 after the weekend, but Roy has only one goal and three helpers so far, including zero points in his last five games.

A team can only rely on their goalie for so long before other weaknesses start to show, and Ryan Miller and company can only hope that Roy finds his scoring touch as the team heads into the holiday season.

Erik Johnson

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Erik Johnson was the centerpiece of the blockbuster deal between St. Louis and Colorado last season.

The Avalanche wanted a top-flight defenseman, and although the weight of being the first overall pick may be off of him, fans in Colorado are seeing some of why their St. Louis counterparts were so frustrated with Johnson.

He has six helpers this year—a decent number—but the stat that sticks out is his minus-six rating. That number is simply unacceptable for someone who is supposed to be an elite defenseman.

Johnson still has time to develop at just 23 years of age, but the Avalanche need him to step up immediately and shore up his defensive game if they are to maintain the surprising success they've enjoyed so far this year.

Ondrej Pavelec

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Ondrej Pavelec was a fantasy owner’s dream a year ago. Completely off the radar, Pavelec stormed the ranks of NHL goaltenders and shot to the top of most statistical categories, leading many to believe the (then) Thrashers had struck gold.

That success hasn’t been carried north of the border, though.

Through nine games in Winnipeg, Pavelec has won just three games and has been a key component of the Jets’ 4-6-1 record.

The team will no doubt go through a honeymoon stage with the fans, but individual players will enjoy a much shorter grace period. Pavelec needs to be aware of this.

The Czech still has some trade value given his first half last year, but if he wants to avoid bouncing around the league like one-hit-wonders Jose Theodore or Craig Anderson, he’ll have to get used to the cold weather and start stopping pucks.

Craig Anderson

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Craig Anderson has won five games in a row, so why is he on this list? Well, in the 10 games he's played in, Anderson has allowed the most goals of any starting netminder in the NHL—not exactly stellar.

In fact, the only reason the Senators have won six in a row is because stars like Jason Spezza and the rest of the offense have decided to wake up and start scoring in droves.

Anderson enjoyed a stellar year in 2010, and after his falling out with Colorado, he played well enough in Ottawa to receive a four-year contract.

Senators fans are right to be wary of the length of his new contract, especially considering how shaky Anderson has been since the start of the season, regardless of the team's record.

While he has shown flashes of brilliance over the last few seasons, he’ll have to maintain above-average play consistently for his team to win more games than they lose; otherwise, the Senators will be stuck with him due to the size of his contract.

Zach Parise

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Zach Parise was one of the biggest names in the NHL two years ago. He was coming off of consecutive stellar seasons of 94 and 82 points, and he was supposed to provide a one-two punch with newly acquired Ilya Kovalchuk.

Things didn't go as planned, however, and a knee injury sidelined Parise for most of last season.

He returned healthy this year but has managed only five points so far. His four goals are respectable, but he is only on pace for 45 points—just over half of what he did in his last full season.

Martin Brodeur isn't getting any younger, so the Devils will need to rely on their offense more and more as the season progresses, and Parise is the main component of that.

Parise won't be traded, but he will need to re-acquire his elite scoring touch for the team to make a run at the playoffs.

Alex Goligoski

Alex Goligoski isn't owned in any of my four fantasy leagues, and each day I look, his total ownership points decline by two or three.

That describes the kind of season Goligoski is having so far.

The former Penguin has never had a negative plus/minus rating, but he sits at minus-three so far this year.

He has consistently improved on his point total from the previous season, but his current four points put him on pace for only 29—17 less than last season.

And while 29 points is certainly respectable for a defenseman, the Stars need him to improve on last year's mark, especially considering he's entering the prime of his career at 26.

It's unlikely the Stars would part with the man they traded James Neal for, but if Goligoski fails to impress through this season, Dallas may be forced to see if they can ship him back to the Eastern Conference.

Chris Stewart

A year ago, Chris Stewart was considered one of the most valuable emerging forwards in the NHL.

He was coming off of a 28-goal, 64-point campaign, and he was one of the rare power forwards with a gift for scoring goals.

When the Colorado Avalanche traded him to St. Louis before the trade deadline, they were mercilessly criticized by the media, who said that St. Louis had won the trade by a mile.

Stewart, however, has failed to produce so far this season, scoring only two goals and one assist.

There's no doubt that Stewart has talent, but if his team is to have any success this year, he must shed the hot/cold stigma that has bothered him in past seasons and establish himself as one of the Blues' top consistent scoring threats.

Ilya Bryzgalov

Ilya Bryzgalov was one of the biggest free-agent signings of the summer.

The Russian signed a nine-year deal with the Flyers, who hoped that he would be their goalie of the future.

Well, the future looks bleak in Philadelphia if Bryzgalov continues playing the way he has through the first month of this season.

His goals against average is 3.16, and his save percentage is a dismal .880, numbers good (or bad?) enough for a 4-4-1 record.

Players who sign these long-term contracts have been known to falter at the beginning, maybe because of the pressure to perform and live up to the deal.

But that contract makes him nearly impossible for Philadelphia to move should they so desire, and if youngster Sergei Bobrovski starts to win some games in Philadelphia, Bryzgalov could be watching more games from the bench than he wants.

Roberto Luongo

Roberto Luongo is probably the biggest underachiever in the NHL through the month of October.

Call it Stanley Cup hangover if you will, but it's hard to see how losing players can suffer from a hangover—they should be hungrier to make up for the failures of last season.

Luongo has a staggering 3.54 goals against average and .869 save percentage, a dramatic changed compared to his 2.11 and .928 numbers from just a year ago.

At 3-3-1, there have been whispers of the Canucks needing to trade Luongo while he still has high value and go with highly-regarded youngster Cory Schneider in net.

That scenario wouldn't be a surprise at all if Luongo continues to play the way he has started the season out. The return the team could get for him would be substantial, and if there are any holes that need filling before another playoff run, the offers might just be too tempting to pass up.